Sidelights

Hayao Miyazaki has become one of the forerunners of Japanese animation.
Fellow animator Stan Lee, writing for
Time
magazine, said of him, "In the field of theatrical animation,
where talent abounds and everyone has his or her own style, the art and
creativity of Hayao Miyazaki are unrivaled. For decades, he has arguably
been Japan's leading cult figure to fans of manga (comic books) and
anime (animated films)—in a nation where those art
forms are held in the highest regard." Miyazaki first became
famous in his own country, but his animated films are such works of art
that they cross all international barriers, and he has become a sensation
around the world. He is known primarily for his films
Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away,
and most recently
Howl's Moving Castle.
David Ansen of
Newsweek
said of the animator, "Hayao Miyazaki seems to be one of those
artists (and there aren't many) who just can't fail to make
magic."

Miyazaki was born on January 5, 1941, in Tokyo, Japan to Katsuji Miyazaki,
an aeronautical engineer and his wife. His father's career became
an interest of Miyazaki's when he was young and continued into his
adulthood. In fact, his later animated films showed this love of
aeronautics with his carefully designed and drawn aircrafts zipping
through the wilderness. Miyazaki's father worked at the family
business, the Miyazaki Airplane, and since young Miyazaki was born during
World War II, the war had quite an effect on him, especially since his
family's company built fighter airplanes. His family was evacuated
from Tokyo in 1944 and were unable to return until 1947. It was shortly
after that that Miyazaki's mother discovered she had spinal
tuberculosis, something that kept her in bed for eight years. During those
years she had a strong influence over Miyazaki, as did his school, which
was a copy of American schools and hence lent a Western influence to his
upbringing. By the time he reached high school, Miyazaki—who had
shown an early aptitude for art—was determined to become an artist
of some sort. He was especially interested in Manga, the Japanese comic
book art, which was forming at the time. Anime, the Japanese animated film
style, was arising at the same time.

Although he was interested in drawing, he was also practical, so when he
entered Gakushuin University, Miyazaki studied political science and
economics, with a plan to help Japan reestablish its economy and recover
from the war. His interest in children's stories flourished in
college too, as he became part of a children's literature research
society that exposed him to fables and tales from around the world. He
graduated in 1963, but instead of going into politics or academics, he
joined an animation studio, Toei-Cine, taking on the role of in-betweener,
a position that is responsible for adding in the drawings that go between
the main ones to make the action scenes complete. He fell in love with the
work and never once considered turning back to go into industry or
politics.

Instead, in 1971, he moved to another studio, A-Pro studio, following
fellow animator and friend Isao Takahata whom he had met at Toei-Cine. Two
years later the pair moved to Zuiyo Pictures where Miyazaki's
talents, cleaned up and perfected over the years, were soon widely
recognized. The first film he worked on as both writer and animator was
the short
Panda! Go Panda!.
He followed it the next year with
Panda and Child: Rainy Day Circus.
He directed his first series in 1978,
Future Boy Conan.
Miyazaki's big break came, however, in 1979 when Tokyo Movie
Shinsha hired him to direct a movie adaptation of the popular comic book
Lupin III,
which became 1979's
The Castle of Cagliostro.

This film left Miyazaki with a desire to do different movies, ones that
would express not what animation had become, but rather what he could make
it. So, in 1984 Miyazaki, longing for a greater freedom in animation,
started his own business, Studio Ghibli, with his longtime friend
Takahata. The studio was a place where the two enjoyed creating their own
pieces, often controversial and pushing the boundaries of traditional
animation. Their first movies,
Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro,
and
Kiki's Delivery Service
were all successes, as have all his films since. It was having his own
company that gave Miyazaki the ability to do the animation that was
outside the norm and that eventually led to his being recognized as a
master of the art. Miyazaki is not just unusual for the content of his
films, but also for the way he goes about making them. According to
Time
's Lee, Miyazaki often begins "constructing a film without
a full script," letting the drawings lead the story. Miyazaki
usually has no idea who the main characters are when he starts or what
they will eventually end up doing. He has said, according to Lee, that
working in this way ensures that he keeps his interest in the project as
it progresses and helps give the end product a feeling of spontaneity.

In 1984 Miyazaki released
Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind,
his first major foray into changing the status quo of animation
filmmaking. In the film he did away with the trendy metallic look that was
prevalent in Japanese anime at the time for a more naturalistic approach,
including forests dripping with fungus. The story is about a special
teenage princess who lives in a small valley in a futuristically dark and
empty post-apocalyptic Earth. A Poisonous forest threatens to kill off the
remaining inhabitants of earth and she decides to participate in a war
between neighboring kingdoms for the survival of her people. However, she
soon finds that she is a pacifist and is much more interested in exploring
the forest than in fighting, and from there the adventures really begin.
Steve Raiteri in the
Library
Journal
said of the film, "Highly recommended for teens and adults alike,
this tremendous series belongs in every library."

It was Miyazaki's 1997 animated film
Princess Mononoke
that brought the director to the eyes of mainstream audiences across the
globe. Before the release of this film Miyazaki was known outside his
country only in niche markets of people who had a great interest in
Japanese anime.
Princess Mononoke
was released in the United States by Disney, although it was done through
their more artistic branch, Miramax.
Princess Mononoke
is about a medieval prince and his quest through a mythical forest. It is
while he is on his quest that he meets the girl for which the film is
named.
People
's Tom Gliatto said of the film, "The convoluted, violent
story, which begins when the prince slays the demon and incurs a curse
that can be lifted (if at all) only by journeying to the monster's
homeland, makes this unsuitable fare for kids. But the
animation—from elaborate (the supernatural creatures) to simple (a
rain shower)—is superb."
Entertainment Weekly
's Ty Burr wrote, "A windswept pinnacle of its art,
Princess Mononoke
has the effect of making the average Disney film look like just another
toy story." Leonard Klady in
Variety
magazine called it "a rich cartoon fable of bygone gods locking
horns with man and with industry." It became the highest-grossing
film in Japan ever.

Then Miyazaki made 2001's
Spirited Away,
which took over
Princess Mononoke
's record as Japan's largest money-making film of all time.
It is about a young girl, Chihiro, who when driving home with her parents
one day is swept into a parallel world when her parents take a wrong turn.
The new world is inhabited by a whole slew of gods, ghouls, and goblins,
and Chihiro, a rather spoiled brat at the beginning of the story, is
forced to deal with situations that most adults would not be able to
handle. In fact Chihiro's parents are soon turned into pigs for
turning their noses up at food offered them, and Chihiro alone is put to
work serving the gods. The world is morally ambiguous and there is no
straightforward battle between good and evil. In the end Chihiro manages
to save her parents and escape, but the evil is not changed as much as she
is. She changes from a spoiled brat into a brave, self-reliant girl who
turns her back on a world of materialism and semi-evil. Steve Vineburg in
the
Christian Century
said of the film, "The world Hayao Miyazaki conjures up in the
Japanese animated feature
Spirited Away
is so exotic and in a state of such constant metamorphosis that you may
have the impression, as you stagger out of the theater, that you've
watched the entire movie with your mouth open.
Spirited Away
runs close to two hours, and there isn't a banal image in
it."

In 2003,
Castle in the Sky: Volumes 1-4,
an adaptation of his 1986 film, was published. The storyline follows
Princess Sheeta, who is in exile, and her friend, Pazu, an orphan who is
an inventing genius. They go on an adventure to save a magic levitation
stone and in the process are chased by a whole litany of soldiers and
pirates.
Publishers Weekly
said of this book version of the film, which included stills directly
from the movie, "Miyazaki's production design is gorgeous,
and the full-color reproduction is nicely authentic—anime buffs
will drool over the floating city, cleverly retro-looking airships,
half-rusted giant robot soldiers, lush landscapes and sensitively handled
lighting in every scene."

Then in 2004 Miyazaki made
Howl's Moving Castle.
Rather than his usual way of making films, Miyazaki based this one on the
book by British author Diana Wynne Jones. He had read the book and was
really taken with the storyline and underlining moral message and decided
it would make a great film. It was not as popular as some of his others
for the simple reason that some people did not understand the film. In an
interview with Devin Gordon for
Newsweek
magazine, Miyazaki said, "A lot of people say they don't
understand the film, and what that means is just that they have a set
definition of how a story is supposed to be told. When the story betrays
their anticipations, then they complain." The film is about a young
girl, Sophie, who is rescued by the wizard Howl one day when she is being
hit on by some soldiers. The evil Witch of the Waste hears of the event
and jealous, turns Sophie into an old woman. Sophie runs from her village
and manages to find a hiding place in Howl's famous moving
castle—a castle that actually moves around on bird feet. Furious at
the evil witch's spell, Sophie discovers a strength inside herself
she would never have discovered otherwise and soon has taken control of
things, including helping Howl go into battle for the King. Howl himself
does not recognize Sophie, although she falls more and more in love with
him as she gets to know the wizard. The whole story, Miyazaki felt, was an
interesting look at age and how humans do or do not let it affect them.
Richard Corliss of
Time
magazine said,
"Howl's Moving Castle
…is the perfect e-ticket for a flight of fancy into a world far
more gorgeous than our own. The film doesn't halve itself to appeal
to two generations. At its best, it turns all moviegoers into innocent
kids, slack-jawed with wonder."

Miyazaki is married to Akemi Ota, a fellow animator. They have two sons.
As of 2005 Miyazaki was busy at work animating his next film.